Hydrocarbon emulsion and process of making same



Patented Apr. 14, 1925,.

" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES B. BELKNAIP, OF .DETROI'I', MICHIGAN.

No Drawing.

T call whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES B. BELKNAP, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Detroit, county of lVayne, and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hydroparticularly as a motor fuel although in its broader aspects the product is capable of being used in connection with heating plants,

power generating devices, etc.

Among the objects of the invention are to provide a product which consists essentially of an emulsion of hydrocarbon oil, water and an emulsifying agent which is readily oxidizable; to provide a product of the character referred to in which the Water is preferably in the internal or disoontinw ous phase and in which the hydrocarbon forms the external or continuous phase; to

produce a 'roduct which forms a relatively stable emu sion Which will stand up in its original emulsified condition for a period of many weeks so as to be a practical commercial product; to provide an emulsion of the character referred to which will carry a relatively large percentage of Water in the internal phase and which emulsion can be diluted with other hydrocarbons so that a relatively small amount of hydrocarbon treated need be emulsified; to provide an emulsifying agent which will permit of a relatively small portion of the emulsifying agent being used to carry a given percentage of water; to provide anemulsifying agent which itself contains an oxidizing substance so that the emulsion will not leave any residue. The invention also resides in the novel process of forming the emulsion, in the manner of corporating the oxidizing agent with the emulsifying agent and in such features of the product and process as will more fully hereinafter appear.

In previous attempts to make emulsions suitable for fuels in internal combustion engines diflicultyhas been encountered owingto the tendency of the emulsifying agent to dry out and form a'deposit adjacent the intake valves and other parts which, While heated, were not suificiently high in tem- HYDROCARBQN EMULSION AND PROCESS OF MAKING SAME.

Application filed October 6, 1920. Serial No. 415,161.

perature to cause complete combustion of the emulsifying agent. One of the main features of the present invention is to overcome this difficulty and has resulted in the production of a motor fuel which will burn up clean in ordinary internal combustion engines such as are in use on automobiles or the like.

I have discovered that a successful emulsified motor fuel can be made in which the features above pointed out will be present and the advantages above pointed out be 7 obtained in the commercial product. One

method of making this motor fuel which I have successfully tried outand practiced is as follows: I first heated 300 grams of dry copper oleate so as to get it into a hot llquid form. I then dissolve 300 grams ammonium nitrate using only as much water as was necessary for complete solubility of the ammonium nitrate. This latter solution was also heated and the two hot solutions mixed and permitted to react for several minutes. The resultant mixture .Was then dissolved in 2 gallons of ordinary commercial gasoline and'well shaken after which there was added 2 gallons of water in which there had been first mixed about 500 cc. of ammonia. Th1s 50% mixture of water and gasoline and the other ingredients were then thoroughly mixed and run through an ordinary commercial Manton-Gaulin homogenizer at a pressure upwards of 2000 pounds per square inch and preferably as near 500p pounds as it was possible to maintain with the machine used. The 5 gallons of resultant product contained approximately 50 per cent of water which was disperse in the oil, the water being in the internal phase and very minutely divided owing to the action of the homogenizer. For use in the ordinary automobile engine, without making carburetor adjustments, it was found that from 5 to "10% of water gave the best results and the it was found that the valves and other in- .tillate, etc.

to be limited to the particular percentage of ingredients or necessarily the specific ingredients mentioned as long as the desired result is obtained. If the fuel is to be used for heavy duty engines instead of gasoline, it would be advisable to use cheaper commercial fuel such as crude oil, pressure dis- While I have mentioned ammonium nitrate as a proper oxidizing agent for the copper oleate emulsifying agent, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to this particular oxidizing agent although it has been found tobe very practical. It is to be noted that the ammonium nitrate is combined directly with the copper oleate before the latter is mixed with the asoline and water. This has been found to e one practical Way in which the ammonium nitrate can be incorporated without breaking up the emulsion but except as set forth in the claims, the invention is not necessarily limited to this manner of mixing.

I claim as my invention:

1. A liquid combustible fuel, comprising an emulsion of hydrocarbon oil, water and an emulsifying agent, said emulsifying agent containing an oxidizing substance.

2. A liquid combustible fuel, comprising an emulsion of hydrocarbon oil, water and an emulsifying agent, said emulsifying agent containing ammonium nitrate.

3. A liquid combustible fuel, comprising an emulsion of hydrocarbon oil, 'water and an emulsifying agent, said emulsifying agent having intimately mixed with it an oxidizin substance.

4. A liquid combustible fuel, comprising an einulsion of hydrocarbon oil, water and an emulsifying agent, said emulsifying agent having intimately mixed therewith ammonium nitrate.

5. A liquid combustible fuel, comprising emulsifying agent with anoxidizable agent, 1

dissolving the same in hydrocarbon oil and mixing the resultant product with water to form a relatively permanent emulsion in which the-oil forms the continuous and the water the discontinuous phase.

CHARLES B. BELKNAP. 

